L'Arc III: Flower
by Ekai Ungson
Summary: Flowers are testaments to the purest of truths. Third in the L'Arc~en~Ciel series. An ExT.


L'arc~en~Ciel III:  
"Flower"  
by Ekai Ungson  
  
The L'Arc~en~Ciel series: A series of vignette-ish EriolxTomoyos featuring titles of L'Arc songs. Fluffy. You have been warned.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters expressed herein are property of Card Captor Sakura by CLAMP.  
  
DISCLAIMER2: The song "Flower" is property of L'Arc~en~Ciel and their recording companies.  
  
Dedicated to Candy who loves Laruku about as much as I love CCS. ^-^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
*"Where's Master, Suppi-chan?"  
  
"I'm NOT Suppi-chan. And Master's out in his garden."  
  
"Again, huh? Maybe we ought to tell him that the jig is up and we know that he spends too much time there because Tomoyo's--"  
  
"Hush. Leave the poor man be."  
  
"If he misses her so much then he should just go back to Japan."  
  
"You know him. He'll come around. It _has_ been a long time, after all."  
  
"Yes, it has."*  
  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
  
He could hear his guardians' voices waft up from the mansion. He smiled. He knew they'd figure things out sooner or later. He turned back to his roses.  
  
A soft gust of wind blew, stirring the aroma from the north side where the lilies lay, to the east where he had planted vanilla and citrus, and then to where he stood, where ther roses were, combining the scents to create her memory.  
  
Her memory.  
  
He closed his eyes.  
  
*"I will see you again when you have learned not to doubt."*  
  
The memory was still fresh in his mind, the cars driving by, the sunlight against a glass table. A cup of coffe he knew had been cold, slender fingers against cold china, a waterfall of dark hair, pale skin, a pair of indigo eyes, pain, and tears.  
  
And the perfume of his garden that smelled exactly like her.  
  
She had said those words exactly one year ago. Since then, she'd had nothing to say to him. There had been letters and postcards and calls from that place, back there, from friends and almost-family. But in the course of a year, nothing from her, never at all a word or a greeting.  
  
One full year, twelve months of her absence. He had subsisted only in the solace that his garden provided where he perfume was present and so were her memories.  
  
God, he missed her.  
  
He missed her fire, her warmth. He missed the way she fit into him in the cold dark nights of England winter. He missed her smile and her kisses, the slender hand that took his, the woman beside him in his bed, in his arms.  
  
He missed her stories, her laughter, the sound of her voice when she sang to his piano. He missed looking into her eyes and just listening to her talk all night and falling asleep in each other's arms. He missed waking up and stroking her hair as he watched as she slept. He missed little things and big things, the touch of her hand, the curve of her smile, the way she whined when she couldn't get her way and then cajoled sweetly to GET her way.   
  
He missed Daidouji Tomoyo.  
  
Ironic how his heart totally protested his allegedly "reasonable" actions. He left Japan and returned to London to try and heal, rid himself from the pain. What he succeeded in doing was providing more hurt for himself because her absence devastated him greatly.  
  
He had wanted to forget her, but he couldn't. Only one week after arriving in England he began to grow insane in the absence of her. That was when he planted the flowers and plants that bloomed in his garden that bloomed today.  
  
Tomoyo.  
  
He gently picked off a plum blossom from a plant and imagined her smile.  
  
He held no more doubt. Or if he did, it was all meaningless now. He would set all these aside to have her back.  
  
He loved her.  
  
It was time.  
  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
  
She looked out at the rain pouring down in merciless torrentsand sighed.  
  
She stole a glance at the calendar on the wall, and realized with some surprise that it had been a full year.  
  
She had survived one whole year without Hiiragizawa Eriol. She wasn't sure if this was cause for mourning or celebration.   
  
She dropped her hand and her curtains fell back into place.  
  
*"I will return when you have learned how to trust."*  
  
It wasn't that she didn't know how to trust back then. It was because she couldn't accept reality for itself and see that heloved HER, only her, and nobody else. She'd chosen to be blinded to his pain by her own sorrow, and she pushed him away thinking he would hurt her.  
  
All he did was love her, and when he left, she'd realized that.  
  
Ironic how she only felt that when it was gone.   
  
But jealousy is a powerful thing. And it wasn't only that.  
  
Insecurity had consumed her, too. Insecurity stemmed from the doubts that she couldn't hold him even though he was in her arms, that she couldn't fully have him no matter how she tried, because he still belonged to and loved his former Muse above all, even her.  
  
But now, she understood.  
  
She didn't care anymore if he loved Kaho more as long as she could see him with her, near, feel him beside her.  
  
She could trust him and she would not care if he broke her in the end, as long as she knew she'd been true to what her heart dictated.  
  
She wanted him back.  
  
But all she could do was wait for a promise to be fulfilled. Wait for his return, if he chose to return at all.  
  
*Eriol, return to me and I promise to give you everything.*  
  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
  
He began throwing clothes into a suitcase without much care for neatness or order. Now was not the time for either. He had sent an initially befuddled Ruby Moon to get plane tickets to Japan.  
  
One way.  
  
It had hell better be one way. He would go to Japan and never return to London. He would-- if he had to-- pursue and win a certain black-haired girl back no matter how much said girl resisted to the idea.   
  
He had a feeling that she wouldn't resist very long, but it was best to be prepared for anything.   
  
Spinel Sun watched as his Master dug through the closets with a new vigor. The guardian smiled.  
  
"I'm back, I'm back!" a female voice yelled from the front door. Then Ruby Moon's dark head pooped through the doorway.  
  
Eriol momentarily paused his packing. "We have tickets?"  
  
"You've exactly two hours to prepare," Ruby Moon said, holding up two plane tickets in her hand.  
  
"TWO HOURS?!"  
  
Two guardians watched as their Master ran out of the room in a panic.  
  
"You didn't exactly give him time to react," Spinel commented.  
  
"He said 'ASAP' so I got the first flight out," Ruby Moon replied.  
  
"Do you think we should tell him you got first class, too?"  
  
"I don't think he'll notice," Ruby Moon answered. "I got the Concorde, too."  
  
He was out in his garden again fifteen minutes later, done with the packing.  
  
He began picking flowers around.  
  
"Eriol-sama," Ruby Moon began. "I don't think those are going to last a whole flight to Tomoeda."  
  
He smiled. "Not if I can help it."  
  
--End III: "Flower" 


End file.
